Borghen
Borghen, also known as Borgan, is the tertiary antagonist of Final Fantasy II. He was once a noble man who became an evil general. A man with cowardly traits, he tends to let others do his work for him while hiding behind those stronger than himself. Profile Appearance Borghen is short and chubby man who had a red nose, red hair, and a squat face. Owing to his implied noble heritage, he wears fancy clothes: striped trousers, a cape, a red tunic with medals, gold gloves, and an oversized trifoil cap. Personality Borghen is a coward, yet ambitious and sadistic. He prefers to stay in the sidelines letting others do the dirty work for him. His cowardly nature drove him to betray Fynn and the Wild Rose Rebellion. When pushed into a corner, he is a ferocious fighter, as he attempts to fight the Wild Rose Rebellion at the Snow Cave despite knowing he has little chance of surviving against them, and even engineers a death trap in the event he is killed to ensure the party's demise by his hand regardless. He knows he'd be executed under the Emperor's orders due to failing to retrieve the Goddess Bell and thus had nothing left to lose. Borghen is ambitious, as while demanding the enslaved Bafsk denizens to continue working, he implies that the Dreadnought's completion will bring him glory (with the PS version specifying that such would advance in his status within Palamecia's army). He blames the Wild Rose Rebellion for ruining his standing with the Emperor and is contemptuous of his own forces, feeling nothing for the people of Bafsk whom he enslaves. Borghen is sadistic, as he, or rather, his undead form, makes clear that he not only intends to torture Josef for eternity by killing the latter constantly, but such would fully please him. Story Borghen once served Kashuan as one of the nobility, having been referred to by Scott as "Count" Borghen. He became a traitor upon the approach of Palamecian forces, ensuring that the empire took Fynn. He abducts Josef's daughter Nelly to blackmail him for helping the Wild Rose Rebellion. Borghen replaces Leon as head of the construction of the Dreadnought though is generally seen a poor substitute, mainly due to his greedy nature and inability to control the minds of the workers. After the Dreadnought's destruction Borghen is presumably demoted. Borghen heads to the Snow Cave to find the Goddess's Bell before Firion and the others do. Realizing if he returns to the Emperor empty-handed he would be executed, Borghen tries to ensure Firion and his party will die. Though easily defeated, the dying Borghen sets off a boulder to roll down the entrance slope toward the heroes, killing Josef. Borghen is never mentioned again by the Emperor's forces, showing how little they cared for his services. Borghen returns as a zombie guarding a treasure chest in Pandaemonium. He is easily defeated, especially compared to the other monsters in the area. Borghen returns as a zombie in the Unknown Cave, the passage leading to Arubboth. He finds the idea of being able to kill Josef over and over again for eternity pleasing, but is defeated by Josef, Minwu, and Scott. Gameplay The party fights Borghen when trying to take the Goddess's Bell. He is no real challenge and is defeated easily. Creation and development Voice In the Final Fantasy Origins and subsequent versions, Borghen laughs whenever present, notably while gloating about the Dreadnought being complete, just prior to fighting the party at the Snow Cave, and in his death throes. He is one of the few characters in games without voice acting to have a laughing sound clip (the other characters being Kefka Palazzo in Final Fantasy VI and Ultimecia in Final Fantasy VIII). Other appearances ''Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade Borghen is an enemy during an event called "Showdown". In battle, Borghen uses Attack. Final Fantasy Record Keeper Borghen appears as a boss. Final Fantasy Trading Card Game Borghen appears on a card. Gallery Amano Borghen.jpg|Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano. Amano Borghen II.jpg|Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano. Trivia *Borghen's character design shares similarities with Napoleon Bonaparte, the latter of who acted as an emperor himself. *Zombie Borghen is fought in both Pandemonium and the passage to Arubboth. It is never revealed how, though it could be that his soul was split in two like the Emperor's, his physical body being zombified and his soul separately entering Heaven. Another possibility is he was revived once physically in Pandaemonium, defeated, and subsequently arrived in Raqia as a spirit. *In the Spanish localization for ''Dawn of Souls, Borghen name is written as "Borguen". *In the novelization Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū by Kenji Terada, Borghen is a Black Mage and hails from Salamand. *Before dying, Borghen tells the party he'll wait for them in Hell. This foreshadows the battle against his zombie form inside a chest in Pandaemonium, which is the castle of Hell in John Milton's epic poem . The one person successfully killed by him ends up facing him in Raqia, the equivalent of Heaven. Category:Characters in Final Fantasy II Category:Antagonists de:Borghen es:Borguen it:Borghen pt-br:Borghen